Exergen Temporal Scanner Review and Giveaway

There are so many different types of thermometers out there, sometimes it's hard to know what's best. I recently had a chance, thanks to the Family Review Network, to try out the Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer and here are my thoughts on it.

First off, what is a temporal scanner? Basically it's a thermometer that scans the infrared heat from the arterial blood supply at 1000 times per second. Then it uses some special technology and displays the body temperature. To use it, all you do is press the button and hold it down, then starting in the middle of the forehead, swipe it towards the hairline and release the button when you reach the hairline. The most accurate temperature is taken from the center of the heart, but since that's impossible for us to do, they say the temporal artery is a good option because it's connected to the heart and is close enough to the surface to get a good measurement.


The one thing I noticed when I took my temperature and my daughter's is that the reading was always a little high. We weren't sick or anything so I was confused as to why we were getting readings in the 99 degree category. It wasn't much, but just enough that made me confused. Then I looked in the manual and realized that the normal range of temperature is a little different.

Upper limit of normal temperature
0-2 months 100.7 degrees F (38.1 degrees C)
3-47 months 100.3 degrees F (37.9 degrees C)
4-9 years 100.1 degrees F (37.8 degrees C)
10-18 years 100.1 degrees F (37.8 degrees C)

So even though we were getting readings in the 99 degree range, we were still normal.

The only thing I'm not a fan of is the fact that if someone is sweating, has bangs, or buries their head in the covers, you might not get an accurate reading. So it might be good to have another thermometer available when these conditions arise.

Want to win one of your own?

To Enter:

• Visit Exergen and tell me a store where these are sold.

For Extra Entries:

• Add me to your blogroll (1 entry)
• Add my button to your blog (1 entry)
• Subscribe to my feed (1 entry)
• Favorite my blog on technorati (button is in the right hand sidebar) (1 entry)
• Blog about this or write about it on your facebook or myspace page and include a link to Exergen and to Sweet 'n' Sassy Girls (5 extra entries- leave me the link in your comments)

Please leave a seperate comment for each extra entry you do. Winner will be drawn using random.org. Contest is open to US residents only. Contest will close on April 17th 11:59 pm MT. Winner will have 48 hours to contact me, or I will pull a new winner.

LemonHead Kids Review

I love to wear headbands for those days my hair isn't the best. But I can't wear any of the plastic ones because I get a headache from them. My head must be shaped funny or something. So I usually stick with cloth ones. I have tried tying a ribbon in my hair, but it never seems to stay and I am constantly readjusting it and adding more bobby pins to keep it in place.


Well, when I got one of the adjustable headbands from LemonHead Kidz to review I was surprised to see that it was lined with velcro. I first tried putting it in my hair when I was wearing my hair curly. It stuck! I had to pull my hair out of it piece by piece! Once I got it where I wanted it though, it was great! I didn't have to readjust it once. I love using it when my hair is straight! The nice thing is that it's adjustable so I can wear it one day, then put it on my daughter another day. You can either let the ends dangle, or your can tie them around your ponytail. What a great way to dress up a casual look.


Their no-slip clips are 100% glueless. The best part about it is that none of the pieces will come off. The silver brad in the center is attached and you cannot pull it off. That is great for those of you who have kids who like to try to pull apart all their bows. Their clip making process is patent pending. The clips are made to work with the headbands, so they can clip on and will not slip on the headband either.

The headbands come in 3 different widths, and the clips come in a variety of colors and styles. I just wish they offered larger flowers for those of us adults who like to wear them ourselves! :) The only other thing I noticed is that occasionally after wearing the headband all day long the velcro started to rub behind my ears. That could easily be fixed by shortening the strip of velcro used. Like I said I didn't notice it until I had worn it all day long and it was the end of the day.

This review was brought to you by the Family Review Network.

April Fools Day Pranks

Since today is April Fools Day, I wanted to write about one of my pranks that I pulled in college and hear what some of your pranks have been!

So when I was in college we were good friends with this one guys apartment. We knew they didn't lock their doors at night so we decided to do something to their apartment in the middle of the night. Thus Chuck was born.

Chuck was a homeless man we made by stuffing clothes and adding a trench coat and gloves and a bottle in a brown paper bag. We used a balloon for a head and if he was laying on the couch just right, he looked real. In fact after we made him, we went to bed for a few hours and when we woke up to go put Chuck into the guy's apartment, it scared some of us!

We went over at about 3 in the morning and put Chuck on their couch. Then we went into their kitchen and opened cupboards and moved things around. We took a bowl and some cereal and put in on the floor by the couch. It looked like Chuck has moved in and made himself at home and then fallen asleep on the couch.

We went over later on the next day and found Chuck in a heap in the corner. We couldn't figure out why, but finally got the story out of one of the guys. Basically what happened is one of the guys woke up and found Chuck on the couch. He sat there watching him for as long as he could, but he had to go take a test up on campus. All his other roommates were still asleep, so he decided to literally run up to campus, take his test, and then run home. He got back and Chuck was still asleep.

One of his other roommates finally woke up and came out and asked what was going on. The first guy said, "Shh! I'm going to give him 10 more minutes and then wake him up!" So the second guy went over and tried to get a look at Chuck's face to see who it was. Well, he saw the bright yellow balloon and had to laugh. The he told his roommate that he didn't think that this guy was going to wake up, and rolled Chuck over. The guy was so mad that he had fallen for it he threw Chuck in the corner where he lay until we came to rescue him.

Yes, we had some fond memories of Chuck. What were some of your April Fools Day jokes?

Wordless Wednesday- Is It Spring Yet?

Find more WW at MomDot and 5M4M

Man, Who Blew Some Lucky Dust My Way?

I have just been notified that I am one of the semi-finalists for a Mother of the Year contest for a local magazine.

If you want the details, I am #9 in the Most Generous Category. The contest is for the Utah Baby Guide Magazine. So, if you want to vote for me, you basically have to send an email telling them you want to vote for #9. Details are here.

I'd love if you sent them an email! :)

Eco Store Review and Giveaway

When I had the opportunity to try out Eco Store products, I was thrilled. We are slowly trying to go green and what a great way to eliminate nasty chemicals from our house.

I got to try out the Natural Antibacterial Spray Cleanser, the Plant Based Laundry Detergent, and the Vanilla Shampoo.
I loved the spray cleanser. It has a nice citrus smell, and worked just as well as any other cleanser I've used. I love that it's natural and kills off all the yucky germs in my kitchen.

The laundry detergent would be great for anyone who has severe reactions to detergents, or to use on baby clothes. We didn't notice any smell left over, except a clean smell, which is great for those who have allergies. It is concentrated so you don't need to use a lot. In fact it's just one little scoop.

I got the vanilla shampoo for my husband, because he LOVES vanilla. He really enjoyed using it, and said it smelled like Captain Crunch. I thought it just smelled sweet, which is nice, because most vanilla smells give me a headache. Not this one!

Honestly, the best thing about all of these is the chemical free factor. I feel safer using these products around my daughter.

If you order any Eco Store Product, you will automatically receive a $2 off coupon to be used at MEIJER.

Want to win a cleaning package including the Spray Cleaner and the Auto Dish Powder?

To Enter:

• Visit Eco Store and tell me another product you'd love to try other than the ones I talked about.

Extra Entries (You must do the entry above for any of these to count)

• Add my button to your blog (1 entry)
• Add me to your blog roll (1 entry)
• Tweet about this contest and leave me the link to your tweet (1 entry per tweet)
• Blog about this contest with a link to me and to Eco Store (5 extra entries- please leave a separate comment for each entry)
• Favorite my blog on technorati (button is on the right sidebar) (1 entry)

Contest is open to US residents and will end April 13th at 11:59 pm MT. Winners will have 48 hours to contact me or I will draw a new winner.

How Was Your Weekend?

I realized that I have been doing so many reviews and giveaways that I haven't really posted anything about my life recently. Since I want you guys to know me, and not just the products I review, I thought I'd tell you about my weekend.

Weekends are usually my break. My husband is home and he usually takes care of my daughter, since he doesn't get to spend much time with her during the week. Well on Saturday he had a friend who wanted him to hang out for this friend's birthday, so he was gone all day, and didn't get back until midnight.



So what did I do while he was gone? I watched Twilight! Walmart had sent me a Twilight party pack and I bought the 2 disk special edition version of Twilight. So I watched it, then watched the special features, and re-watched the movie with the commentary of the Director, and the girl who played Bella, and the guy who played Edward. I always love listening to those commentaries because they tell you about things that were happening behind the scenes, etc.


By the end of the day, however, I was done. Do you ever have those days where you get so sick of cleaning up, or cooking, or doing the dishes, simply because you know you'll just have to do it all again tomorrow? I had one of those days. I just couldn't handle doing anything else and so I decided not to do it at all. I went upstairs, put on a movie and went to bed.

Then Sunday was pretty laid back and I spent most of the day getting ready for church and then we went to church. That's pretty much how my weekend went. How was yours?

Monday's Free Redbox Code 3/30

The free redbox code for today 3/30 is:

89ZQJ3

It expires tonight at midnight so be sure to use it today!

Bright Star Kids Review

When I found out I was pregnant, I had grand envisions for my daughter's room. I was going to paint and decorate it super cute. Well, besides making and hanging the curtains, that didn't happen, and now that she is almost two, the walls are still bare white.

Well, they were until earlier today. I had received a Wall Letter Kit from Bright Star Kids of the nickname we call my daughter, to help change those bare walls into something amazing. I put the saying up above her crib and now she has some decorations up! Now maybe I'll get motivated to decorate the rest of her room.



What I loved about them:

• I got to choose the size, the color, the saying, and the font
• VERY easy to put up
• They're removable! Which is great for those people who can't paint the walls, or for someone who likes to redecorate often.

What I didn't like:

• Honestly, there wasn't anything I wasn't a fan of. They were so easy to use, and easy to fix if I messed it up, which I did. I put them on the wall at an angle, but I hadn't removed the last layer yet, so I peeled them up and repositioned them, and fixed them.

They look small in the picture, but honestly they pretty much fill that wall.

If you have ever used vinyl lettering before, you know how simple it is to use. It's pretty much a rub, peel, stick, rub and peel process. That's it! It took me less than 5 minutes to finish it, including the time I took to fix my mess up.

Along with the Wall Lettering Kit, I also got to try out the chalk panels. My daughter has become a HUGE fan of drawing with chalk, but it's been cold the last few weeks, so we can't go outside. These are perfect for letting her use that chalk inside the house. It basically has a colored background (my kit came with 2 purple and 2 pink), and 4 chalk board panels to place over the colored background. They come in sets of dots or rectangles.

The hardest thing with these was trying to decide where to put them. We don't really play much upstairs in my daughter's room. In fact, most of our time is spend on the main floor, which happens to also be our living room. I didn't want to have these on the wall when guests came over. While they are movable, I didn't want to have to move them every time we had company, but I did want them to get some use.

I finally decided to put these on the side of a cardboard box that we have, making a coloring cube. It's easy to move from room to room, which is great. My daughter was a huge fan of this cube, and I KNOW it will get a lot of use.


What I liked about the chalk panels:

• They are SUPER easy to use. Simply peel and stick.
• They are movable
• They clean easily with a damp cloth
• They're super cute.

What I didn't like:

• I couldn't decide where to put them! There were too many uses. Did I want to use them in my kitchen, or let my daughter play with them? Which room did I want to put them in? Although that's not really a design flaw, it's more of a user flaw. :)

They also make adorable wall graphics, and labels. Everything is made in their facility in Australia and is made using the highest quality removable vinyl there is available. Prices are very reasonable and shipping time was fairly quick too.

Want to try these out? Bright Star wants to give you a discount! Simply enter the code FAMILYREVIEW for 20% your purchase. Discount good until April 25th.

Notes on using this code: The discount doesn't work with any automatic store discounts. For example if a person buys 2 or more Wall Graphic or Wall Letter kits, they will automatically get between 15 - 25% off. These products won't get the extra 20% off, but any other product that's in the order will.

Thank you to the Family Review Network for introducing me to this awesome company!